Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat and Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, spoke in the debate on the report of the Special Representative on the Rights of Displaced Persons in Geneva today. His comments in response to interventions by states and non-governmental organisations are carried below. 

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The US Secretary of State Mrs. Hillary Clinton acknowledged that Sri Lanka is now on the verge of defeating terrorism, and that this presented a great opportunity to restore peace, leading to reconstruction and rehabilitation in the country.

3 civilians were reported killed, including a 9 year old, who were among 66 people who sought protection with troops fleeing from LTTE hostage at Pudumathalan on Sunday (March 15).

UN worker, Sutharshani Tharmila and 13 others were injured when the LTTE shot at them when they arrived in the cleared areas of Puthukudiyirippu on Saturday evening.

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Addressing local and foreign media at a briefing on Saturday (14), Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe stated that the consolidated position of the Government of Sri Lanka in respect of the press release from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was that the statement dated 13 March was unacceptable due to the manner that it was formulated and disseminated and also with regard to the contents as they pertain to the conduct of the Government. He expressed his disappointment and dismay at the statement and said that one of the main issues of contention was the use of unsubstantiated casualty figures cited by the High Commissioners’ Office. He noted that these figures bore a similarity to those carried by websites such as Tamilnet and the figures quoted by LTTE front organizations and their representatives. He stated that the representatives of these front organizations were very active on the sidelines of the 10 Sessions of the UN Human Rights Council currently being held in Geneva.

A total of 1011 civilians including 458 children have fled from LTTE hostage and sought protection with the 58 Division troops operating in general area Ampalavanpokkanai South on March 15.

March 14th 2009 

Hilton Hotel, Colombo  

It is a pleasure to be back once again in Sri Lanka and I am grateful to the government for the invitation to visit the country for which I have such great affection.   

Sri Lanka lives in momentous times. The next few months are probably the most important since independence and will shape this country for the next generation and beyond.  The decisions which are taken by politicians now will not only influence the internal development of Sri Lanka but how it is perceived in the world outside.  It is a time for statesmanship not partisan politics and one where leaders must want to be judged by history rather than the contemporary electorate.

How do we classify Sri Lankan opinions and the opinions about Sri Lanka? One broad categorization would be between those who think that the Tigers are the problem and those who think the Tigers are the solution. Most Sinhalese belong to the first category and many Tamils, especially in the Diaspora, to the latter.

Construction led growth not enough, developing livelihoods a must  

By Devan Daniel  

A recent study by the Government Peace Secretariat says the economies of the North and East had continued to grow despite the breakdown of the cease fire agreement (CFA) and at a faster rate than the rest of the country.

by Ranjith Gunaratna 

For more than three decades, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) has been endeavoring to weaken the democratically elected government in Sri Lanka. They have primarily used adroit terror and propaganda campaigns interspersed with political negotiation. During the history of its campaign, the LTTE has not displayed any keen, sincere interest in settling the conflict through political negotiations. The apparent reason behind this could be their firm belief in carving an independent state for the Tamils in Sri Lanka through military means. It used the negotiation table mostly to buy time, regroup, and rearm. Yet, its failure or rejection to sit at the negotiation table with firm commitments and sincerity is the gravest mistake the LTTE has ever made. Consequently, it has been paying the price for its failed militaristic approach towards the conflict.

(Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The first harvest stock from the North reached Colombo last evening by road in nearly 22 years. Reportedly 20 trucks carried harvest from North, especially from Jaffna on A-9 Jaffna-Kandy highway from the government food stores at Navatkuli to the CWE Stores Complex in Welisara.

Rohan Mathes  

Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said yesterday that the innocent civilians entrapped and confined within an area of 35 square kilometres, would be looked after well.

It was evident all along that the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was not interested in a political solution to the issues in Sri Lanka and the Tamil people, but in establishing a personal fiefdom for himself, said the British Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox in discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees today.

by Dayan Jayatilleka

“The political moment is always connected with changes to borders” 

- Jacques Ranciere (2006)

The Sinhalese and Tamils are in a Mexican standoff. Locally, the Sri Lankan armed forces have surrounded the Tigers who have embedded themselves among the civilians (some of whom are the Tigers’ extended families and trained “Makkal Padai” militia, as well as those who chose to follow the Tigers as they evacuated Jaffna in 1995, all constituting the LTTE’s social support base or the Tiger tribe).

For a long time, organisations like Human Rights Watch looked no worse than sadly misguided. Their intellectual capacities obviously weren't up to the analysis of basic facts, and their unshakeable belief in the fundamental goodness of humankind led them to assume that terrorists couldn’t be as dangerous as they seemed, but their intentions weren't really in doubt.  Lately, however, it has become clear that they must have some other agenda.

Response of Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, to comments by non-Governmental Organizations in the Interactive Dialogue on Item 3 in the Agenda of the UN Human Rights Council

NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers may have killed their high-profile military spokesman on charges of being a "traitor" when they began suffering heavily early this year, Tamil sources say.

The LTTE poses the most serious obstacle preventing the evacuation of civilians, who are confined to the safe zone in the narrow coastal strip in the Mullaitivu district.  Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, referring to the dialogue with India and the US in this regard, explained that the Government of Sri Lanka is at present unable to avail itself of the offers of assistance to evacuate the civilians, made by these countries due to the LTTE’s fierce resistance in releasing the people, since the civilians have been forcibly held against their will as human shields to protect key LTTE terrorist leaders and their families.  The Foreign Minister explained the Government position to the British Shadow Defence Secretary, Dr. Liam Fox who called on him yesterday (12 March 2009) in Colombo.  Dr. Fox is currently on a brief visit to Sri Lanka, during which he is scheduled to hold talks with key Government leaders including President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as well as meet leaders of political parties.

Amnesty International’s resident Cluster Bomb Specialist Jim McDonald has gone on another of his shooting sprees. Over the weekend he sent out releases targeting both the Sri Lankan and the Pakistani governments.

While Sri Lankan armed forces are about to eradicate the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) terrorism from Sri Lanka, Tamil Tiger supporters from the world over seem to be hell-bent on saving them from their predicament. With this in mind, they have started bombarding the UN organizations and its personnel with e-mails (even the High Commissioner for Human Rights had noted how she had been inundated with such messages) accusing the Sri Lankan Government of committing a ‘genocide’ against Sri Lankan Tamils.